The first week of Hogwarts flew by and before they knew it the weekend had arrived. Charlie woke early to finish a letter to his parents.

Hi Mum and Dad,

My first week has been great! Bill showed me around the castle. I've got a few new friends here who are really nice. There's Buck Cooper and Annie Stark who are also in Gryffindor, and Don Tremlett and Tonks (don't ask me to spell her first name) who are in Hufflepuff. Tonks is also a metamorph-something so she can change her hair colour whenever she wants! It's so cool!

So far, my favourite lesson is Defence Against the Dark Arts because we're learning about jinxes, but I also like Transfiguration and Charms. I really don't like Potions, but I think that's because of Professor Snape. No one likes him.

Love to everyone,

Charlie

Having finished the letter, he quietly dressed and headed to the Owlery. He stopped to chat with Nearly Headless Nick, the resident Gryffindor ghost, who warned him that Peeves was making mischief on the third floor Defence corridor.

Finally, Charlie arrived at the top of the Owlery steps. The air was thick with the gentle hoots of slumbering owls; the floor was strewn with droppings and small animal bones. He selected a proud looking barn owl to deliver his letter. The owl wasn't happy about having to get up, but it flew off all the same once Charlie had attached his letter.

He was just about to walk back to Gryffindor tower when he heard footsteps ascending the steps towards him. It was Tonks and Don.

'Hey!' Tonks called with a smile when she saw him. Her hair was blonde today, wavy with curls at the ends. 'How come you're up so early?'

'Owling my parents,' he explained, 'you?'

'Same, and Don's never sent letters by owl before so I'm going to show him,' Don was looking up at the high ceiling of the Owlery.

'I've never seen so many owls before in my life!' He gasped.

Tonks called one of the school owls down to them and showed Don how to tie a letter onto its leg without hurting it. She showed him how to tell the owl where to go and how to hold it. Charlie sat on a relatively clean windowsill, wishing he knew at least one cleaning spell, and waited for them to finish.

Once Tonks had sent her letter too, they headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Charlie liked the weekend breakfasts because you didn't have to sit on your house table. So he joined Tonks and Don on the Hufflepuff table. Buck joined them later, but Reg and Fergus chose to sit at the Gryffindor table. A Gryffindor girl called Annie Stark also came over and sat by Tonks.

'Flying lessons start this week,' Buck said when they all sat down, 'I can't wait! I was so annoyed when the letter said first years can't bring their own brooms!'

'You've got your own broom?' Charlie asked enviously, he had always wanted one, but his parents didn't have a lot of money, so he had to use his father's old broom – an old Swiftstick which only flew about five metres from the ground.

The rest of breakfast was taken up with a discussion on the merits of different brooms.

'Do you guys want to watch the Quidditch team trials? Charlie asked, 'Slytherin have the pitch first today but then it's the Gryffindor team. Tomorrow is Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff,'

'I'm up for that!' chirped Tonks. No one could think of anything better to do, so they headed to their respective dorms and wrapped up warm for an afternoon in the Quidditch stands.

The Slytherin trials had finished with second year Di Pietro as the new Chaser, and third years Connington and Kiely as Beater and Seeker respectively.

Then by the end of the day, the Gryffindor team was back to its full strength.

The new Keeper, fourth year Barry Ryan, out flew the rest of his competition and saved all five out of five goals shot at him by seventh year Chaser Kath Hunter. The other two Chasers were picked from a crowd of about fifteen hopefuls. Second year Arthur Dent didn't look like much but he was surprisingly good at weaving past the rest of the team trying to tackle him and even managed to get close to the goals, Ryan of course saved his shots. third year Jonathan Roberts, however, was like an Abraxan horse as he barged through the defence, Quaffle in hand, and sped towards the hoops.

Gryffindor Captain and Beater, Gwenog Jones, thinned the crowd of prospective Beaters by half as soon as she lined them all up. Then she put the remaining seven through a rigorous set of exercises to test their stamina and skill before setting Bludgers on the four left standing. One broken nose and a minor concussion later, third year Joey Jenkins held his new Beater's club aloft in victory.

Charlie and the gang cheered as each of the new players did a celebratory lap around the stands.

The following day, they headed back down to the grounds with the extra-curricular timetables that Professor McGonagall had handed out to see what they might be interested in doing outside of lessons.

'Kirley and Myron were saying that the Music club is pretty good,' Don told Charlie, 'I might go to that and see about learning bass again. Kirley said the guitars and things in the Wizarding World are different to the ones in the Muggle world.'

'I was thinking of doing Ghoul Studies,' said Tonks, 'Don't you think it would be cool to learn about vampires and stuff?'

The Ravenclaw team Keeper ended up as fourth year Oakden Hobday as he was the only candidate. Third year Chaser, Valmai Morgan out skilled every one of her competition. A scrawny third year called James Alderton surprised seventh year Captain and fellow Beater, Brevis Birch, by accurately hitting every Bludger aimed at him.

After lunch, they watched the Hufflepuff trials.

'They've got a young team,' Buck commented as they watched the new Keeper – third year Spungen – block Quaffle shots from the two new Chasers. Dorny and Mullet were speedy and not without skill. The same could not be said of the newly selected Dunstan who had the power behind the Beater's club but his agility left something to be desired.

'Who cares?' laughed Tonks as they trekked back up to the castle, 'Hufflepuff are going to kick your Gryffindor butts!' And as if it was the universe's reply, she promptly tripped over a rock and landed flat on her face. It was one of the funniest sights Charlie had ever seen.

'Ow,' Tonks groaned, picking herself up from the ground. Only then did she realise that everyone else was on the floor too, laughing at her fall. She chuckled and joined in, laughing at herself.


In next to no time Charlie and the gang, which consisted of Tonks, Don, Buck and Annie, were settled into a routine at Hogwarts.

They would go to classes and chat at break and lunch. They would do their homework either in the Great Hall or in the library. At weekends they would either go and watch whichever house Quidditch team was practising, or find an empty classroom to practise their newly learnt spells in.

Every now and then they would do their own thing, like when Don would go with Kirley and Myron to play some music. The three of them had even discussed starting a band together. Charlie liked to go and help Hagrid, or the unpredictable Professor Kettleburn, with any outdoorsy creature related things. Ever since Charlie had spotted Professor Kettleburn rounding up Crups for a fifth year class he had found himself with an ever increasing interest in magical creatures.

Tonks, on the other hand, quickly gravitated to the Hogwarts duelling club and was discovering that she had a very natural talent for it, so much so, that she was beginning to gain a reputation as the only first year no one wanted to mess with. Professor Kelly wouldn't stop going on about her, much to Charlie's envy.

Annie spent time in Charms club, learning some handy spells that she mainly used for personalising her things. Buck, however, spent every available moment trying to talk about Quidditch to whoever would listen. By early October even Madam Hooch, the eagle-eyed Flying teacher, was fed up of hearing about the Montrose Magpies' win over the Wimbourne Wasps in the final of the British and Irish League, despite Ludo Bagman knocking out two Magpie chasers with some very accurate beating. Otto Bagman, a sixth year Hufflepuff and Ludo's younger brother, threatened to jinx Buck if he mentioned it once more.

Charlie had never been happier. Before coming to Hogwarts he had only had his parents and his siblings to hang around with, occasionally visited by a distant cousin who never visited again. So being surrounded by all these new and not-ginger people with different interests and traits was a pleasant change.

Suddenly, Halloween was upon them. The vegetable patch outside Hagrid's hut was bursting with massive pumpkins, the Hogwarts Frog Choir were scheduling last minute rehearsals, and Peeves could be found behind almost every corner, ready with bottles of red ink to spray at unsuspecting students. It became normal for students to walk around looking as though they were covered in blood as a result.

The morning of Halloween Charlie received an owl from home. The letter was from his mother, thanking him and Bill for their birthday messages (she turned thirty-five the previous day). Charlie's father had taken her out for a meal at the Conjurer's while Aunt Muriel looked after Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Molly wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but when they returned home Muriel's hair was steaming and the stairway smelled of cabbages.

That break time, as the gang sat in the library, Charlie spotted that day's Daily Prophet lying on a nearby desk. He picked it up and read the headline aloud: '"Three Years On: How the Wizarding World has progressed since Harry Potter Defeated You-Know-Who"'.

'Has it really only been three years? It feels more like ten,' Tonks murmured.

'I remember when we found out,' Buck recalled, 'it was in the morning Prophet and my Mum screamed. Dad, me, and my little brother Connor all ran downstairs to find out what had happened and we found her crying with happiness at the table. We went to Diagon Alley later that day and she bought me my Cleansweep Six in celebration.

'So is that why there were all those owls going around?' asked Don, 'and people in robes all over the place?'

'I remember that!' cried Annie, earning a disapproving glare from Madam Pince, 'there were loads of shooting stars too – no one knew what was going on!'

'Of course, you're both Muggle-born!' Tonks whispered, lest they attract the wrath of Madam Pince, 'you wouldn't have known what was going on.'

'I remember my Dad saying that the shooting stars were probably caused by Deadalus Diggle,' added Charlie, 'and that he'd get a charge from the Ministry if he wasn't careful.' Charlie became solemn as he remembered more of that night. 'Mum was crying because Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon had died a month before. They were killed by Death Eaters.' Charlie's voice broke and Tonks leaned over and gave him a comforting pat on the back. 'They were my favourite uncles – always a laugh at Christmas Dinner. Then they joined the Order of the Phoenix and were killed a month before the War ended.'

'My parents were in the Order too,' Tonks said sullenly, 'until I was born, then it was too dangerous for them to carry on considering one half of my family was Muggle and the other would have happily killed us all.'

'How come?' asked Don.

'My Mum's family are all pure-blood maniacs. Toujours Pur is the Black family motto. Always Pure. They disowned my Mum for marrying Dad just because he was Muggle-born. Her two sisters had joined the Death Eaters as soon as they had left school. When I was born, Mum got a death threat from my Aunt Bellatrix telling her that she was bringing further shame to the "noble house of Black" than she had thought possible and would have to repent or be killed. Mum burnt the letter on the spot.'

'Wait, your Aunt Bellatrix – Bellatrix Lestrange?'

'The very same. Because of her I spent the first seven years of my life in a Ministry safe house, only able to go out in the garden. She deserves to rot in Azkaban after what she did to the Longbottoms,' Tonks spat.

'Wow,' Charlie breathed, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation, 'and I thought my family had it bad just with Aunt Muriel.' The tension broke like a china plate and they all laughed, but throughout the day Charlie found himself thinking back to that day – the sadness and the relief. All thanks to a tiny, one year old baby called Harry Potter.

But all thoughts of the past were eradicated as soon as Charlie set foot in the Great Hall that evening.

The sky was black and cloudless, dotted with twinkling stars. Tall, tapering candles floated above the five tables, casting an eerie glow over those who were seated. Hagrid's giant pumpkins were dotted around the Hall, flickering candles in each. Professor Flitwick had charmed them to cackle every now and then just to creep people out.

Professor Dumbledore stood up once everyone was seated and the Hall fell silent.

'Welcome, everyone to the Halloween Feast! I hope you are all hungry!' A number of seventh years cheered. 'Indeed! Humour me for a moment longer, if you please. Just to remind you all that the opening Quidditch match of the season takes place this Saturday between Gryffindor and Slytherin,' Dumbledore paused and waited for the cat-calls and stamping of feet to die down, 'best of luck to both teams!

'Now, before we begin the feast the Frog Choir wish to perform a little number they've been working on. I am told that it is entitled "Thriller" and is by a well-known Muggle artist named Michael Jackson.'

'Ooh, I love this song!' Annie whispered to Charlie.

'The song is highly popular among Muggles and I'm sure we will be able to see why. Professor Flitwick, if you please!'

The Hall clapped politely as Professor Flitwick and the rest of the Frog Choir filed in in front of the Staff Table. Myron stood forward as the soloist, the only one not holding a huge warty frog.

It was an altogether enjoyable performance indeed. It was apparent that Myron was a gifted showman and could sing well too, but what impressed Charlie most of all was how they had charmed the frogs to croak 'thriller'. Fergus, who was sat beside Charlie, jumped so much when all the pumpkins cackled simultaneously at the end of the performance that he knocked over his goblet of pumpkin juice, much to Charlie's amusement. The choir received a standing ovation as they returned to their seats. Myron took a while to bow to each of the house tables and staff in turn.

'Yes, yes, thank you Mr. Wagtail,' Professor Dumbledore chuckled as Myron at last took his seat with a final elaborate bow to the Headmaster before sitting down at the Hufflepuff table. 'That was a fantastic performance once again from the Frog Choir. And now, the part you've all been waiting for – bon appétit!'

The plates in front of Charlie bloomed with food as they had on the night of the Start of Term feast, only this time they were laden with pumpkin pies and black forest gateau among other things, as well as some unsettlingly realistic 'finger food'.